West Brom trio step up their injury returns

The club's injured players continued their rehabilitation during the international break, as Bruce's side return to action at home to Swansea today.

The boss is encouraged by progress made by defender Semi Ajayi (ankle), and fellow centre-back Bryan is stepping up his return from a long-term ACL setback, but striker Dike is still some time from joining in.

"There's progress. Ajayi is doing very, very well," Bruce said. "I'm not going to put a timescale on Dike because it's been that long but we've seen him progress. He's out there. It's just about getting it right with him.

"He's running, he's doing all the rehab stuff that you need to do.

"He's not with us yet, I think he's still a while off, because of the size of the tear he did.

"We've just got to be patient and get him right."

United States international Dike is keep to prove his fitness and form ahead of the upcoming World Cup in Qatar, which begins in November.

Defender Bryan, 25, signed following the closure of the summer window in 2021 due to injuries elsewhere including Dara O'Shea, has endured a nightmare time at The Hawthorns ever since he sustained the serious knee injury on his first start for the club last November.

"He's made good progress in the last week in particular," Bruce added. "He's coming to the phase now where he's nearly joining us in training, which is good news for him.

"He's had a long struggle, but he's stuck at it, so there's a bit of light at the end of the tunnel for him.

"He's on the grass, and he's out running, but he's not really yet joined in with us. That's the next step, which is around the corner."